Anyone purchased undercarriage parts from Alibaba? (China)

[Connor K.]

The price is tempting, Chains, rollers, sprockets, and idlers for about 3k shipped. Seems too good to be true. Has anyone gone this route? I don’t use this machine full time, maybe 500hrs per year

 

[Welder Dave]

Is this for your Case 9010B? It's always good to post what machine but 3K is way too good to be true. 3K might buy just the rails from a decent aftermarket supplier. I'd guess you're looking at about 10-11k for everything. If pads are reused (or new) it might be a good idea to have them installed at a track shop for 2 to $300. Proper torque on the bolts is important so they stay tight.

 

[Connor K.]

Excuse me, yes case 9010B. I would like to clean it up a bit. I have about 10k into this machine, so another 10k is unacceptable. I don’t hire mechanics for major work, but I do have a mechanic that rents space in my shop who can answer questions related to turning bolts. As far as the china parts, they do have a 1 year warrantee. I just don’t understand their system of grading steel. They list a surface hardness grade and a core hardness grade, its just not the same system we use in America. I am just wondering if these parts will cut like butter within 1000 hrs. I will be reusing the old track pads. Wouldn’t most “aftermarket parts” be china made anyway?

Thanks for the reply Dave.

Anyone out there bought china Undercarriage parts?
Attached is one of the quotes I received.

 

[Connor K.]

I assume the main price difference in price is that these are purchased direct from the manufacturer, not imported, marked up, stocked, marked up again, shipped again, then taxed.

 

[Tones]

2 things that be at the forefront of your thinking.
No such thing as " good and cheap".
Cheap isn't always the cheapest.

 

[Welder Dave]

Hopefully someone else will respond but if this undercarriage was any good how come nobody has ever mentioned it before? I think you'd find it's like comparing a grade 2 bolt to a grade 8 bolt. Some China products are decent and some aren't. Approx. 1/3 the cost doesn't give much confidence on the quality.

 

[suladas]

I've wondered about that stuff but never took the chance. I don't think the price means it has to be junk, or just because it's made in china. How many things from the dealer are made in china? Or a part at the dealer that you can find the exact same part for like 1/3 of the price elsewhere. Most likely it's lessor quality then the other stuff, but if it has even 75% of lifespan as other components but costs 1/3 it's worth it for a older machine that will never wear out another undercarriage anyways. I've been quite happy with a fair bit of chinese stuff i've bought for a small fraction of the bigger names, like my welder for example. When it comes to tools like wrenches, etc though i've never noticed any difference in the cheap chinese stuff.

Those prices are insane though. When I got a new idler for my 210 it was $1100.

 

[skyking1]

tracksnteeth had a ~770 price on front idler group for the same machine. helps to have perspective on your china made parts.

 

[Welder Dave]

I also don't see a shipping cost. Most other undercarriage has a 3 year warranty. I don't think all Chinese undercarriage is necessarily bad but they have different levels of quality depending on the price. Also better undercarriage uses boron steel for extra toughness and wear resistance. Maybe below will help.

(2) Why China is not the best option for cheap undercarriage? | LinkedIn

 

[suladas]

I also don't see a shipping cost. Most other undercarriage has a 3 year warranty. I don't think all Chinese undercarriage is necessarily bad but they have different levels of quality depending on the price. Also better undercarriage uses boron steel for extra toughness and wear resistance. Maybe below will help.

(2) Why China is not the best option for cheap undercarriage? | LinkedIn

It's pretty crazy how cheap shipping is from china. My brother was looking at buying a sea can of rebar from alibaba and the cost for the sea can and shipping was like $6k. You could get like $3k alone for the sea can.

 

[CM1995]

2 things that be at the forefront of your thinking.
No such thing as " good and cheap".
Cheap isn't always the cheapest.

I'll add a few more Tones -


Buying "cheap" crap from China - "You get what you pay for".

Then we contractors to owners - "Low bid is not always the least cost".

IMO no way I'd waste my $3K on an obviously underpriced set of UC. How is the warranty administrated? Do you package it up and ship it back to China for a replacement?

 

[Lesch]

After dealing with them years ago, I found out the can make good stuff, they just choose not to. Remember in schoolwhen the teacher left the room and told you to be quite? You could be quite as long as the teacher was standing there. They are the same way. Even of you show them how it needs to be done, the minute you turn your back, they go back to their kung foo ways. That's why anyone importing anything of quality from China had QC people at every step of the way.

 

[willie59]

I don't see anything about shipping on that quote. One thing I recall about international shipping, we used to buy parts from Maxis Corp in Japan, reputable company, but the seller, in this case in Japan, is only responsible for getting the shipment on a boat, FOB whatever port of departure. Once it's on that boat, it's no longer their responsibility to deliver the shipment. To get things into the USA require certain documents for U S Customs and for Homeland Security. If those documents aren't right, don't have all the required duplicates, don't have all the I's dotted and the T's crossed, well, in Customs at port of entry it will sit. As a buyer in the USA you are responsible for getting this shipment delivered to you, not the seller in China. It's such a complex process that we used to hire an international shipping broker to take care of those details as they are familiar with the process. If you don't do that then there's a good chance you'll go nuts trying to get your parts delivered to you.

 

[lantraxco]

First off, it's not bad stuff, but it's nowhere near OEM. HRC54-60 stands for "Hardness Rockwell C" ranges from 54 to 60 hard. There is no shipping terminology on the quote, normal would be "Ex-works" which means will call at the factory. They mention a shipping port, so if they told you "shipped" that should mean delivered to the container loading facility for your shipper or forwarder to handle. Ocean LCL shipping is cheap. The ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM is the Trump tariffs, you will be charged 25% of the invoice total, PLUS brokerage, customs clearance, possibly intensive exam or container X-ray by Customs inspectors, and you will have to pay a one time bond fee to whatever broker you use along with a dozen or so fees, taxes, charges, and finally a loading fee wherever you or your freight company pick it up from the bonded warehouse. Let it sit more than a couple days, and BAM! you get hit with outrageous daily storage fees as well. Importing stuff is not for the faint of heart. If you decide to move forward I can recommend a decent brokerage firm that has offices in the PNW.